Pioneer Square has a ‘potty problem’

Note to everyone down there in Pioneer Square: Toilets are usually round and have handles or buttons that flush. They don’t look like sidewalks, alleys or the sides of buildings.

Just remember that next time you have the urge to take a load off when you’re out for fun in Seattle’s oldest neighborhood.

KIRO Radio has a story about the aftermath of St. Patrick’s Day in Pioneer Square, and it’s not a pretty sight.

“When there are major events in the square and around weekends, it’s pretty obvious that we have vomit, we have urination, we have defecation,” Pioneer Square resident Anne Fennessy told the radio station.

The neighborhood is trying to combat its unsanitary problem by publishing a list of nearby public restrooms and pushing for more public toilets. Even so, city crews cleaned up 1,211 instances of human waste last month.

Neighbohood volunteers say the offenders aren’t limited to the homeless, who don’t always have access to a restroom. Fennessy told KIRO she’s seen people from the “breadline and the boardroom” relieving themselves on the street.

She says she doesn’t think people would do that in Wallingford: “I think we need say to people this is not acceptable.”